"Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death"
About this Quote
Philosophy, in Socrates hands, is less a hobby than a rehearsal for the one appointment nobody gets to reschedule. The jab at "ordinary people" isn’t just elitism for sport; it’s a diagnostic. Most of us live as if death is a rude interruption to life rather than the boundary that gives life its shape. Socrates is arguing that the philosophic life trains you to look straight at that boundary without flinching, because it has already trained you to detach from the usual sedatives: status, appetite, careerist urgency, the craving to be liked.
The intent is practical and slightly provocative: if your thinking is serious, you’re already learning how to die well. In the Platonic context (especially the Phaedo), "preparing for death" has a literal metaphysical edge: the soul clarifies itself by loosening the body’s grip, and death is the final separation. But the subtext is also ethical. Philosophy is a daily discipline of refusing comforting nonsense, auditing your beliefs, and choosing truth over self-protection. That’s a kind of dying in miniature: you let cherished illusions expire; you surrender the ego’s right to be the hero of every story.
It also functions as retroactive self-defense. Socrates is a condemned man making an argument about why he won’t beg, perform contrition, or trade integrity for survival. If the city can take his body, fine; the whole point of his practice was to ensure the city could never take his mind.
The intent is practical and slightly provocative: if your thinking is serious, you’re already learning how to die well. In the Platonic context (especially the Phaedo), "preparing for death" has a literal metaphysical edge: the soul clarifies itself by loosening the body’s grip, and death is the final separation. But the subtext is also ethical. Philosophy is a daily discipline of refusing comforting nonsense, auditing your beliefs, and choosing truth over self-protection. That’s a kind of dying in miniature: you let cherished illusions expire; you surrender the ego’s right to be the hero of every story.
It also functions as retroactive self-defense. Socrates is a condemned man making an argument about why he won’t beg, perform contrition, or trade integrity for survival. If the city can take his body, fine; the whole point of his practice was to ensure the city could never take his mind.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Plato, Phaedo (Socrates), section 64a — Jowett translation: passage stating that those who apply themselves rightly to philosophy are 'preparing themselves for dying and death'. |
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